The Art of Connection
by Callidus-Neuro
Summary: Moving from a poor town to a huge city is an opportunity not many gets in a town like Shiganshina. When Mikasa comes across Trost Academy, a school that specializes in music and art, it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Little did she know exactly how life-changing it would be. Past unveils and secrets are revealed. It's all about mastering the art, in more ways than one. Mikaanie.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello, people. I think it should be noted that this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction so my characterization might not be exactly spot-on. Though it is an AU so I kind of have an excuse...kind of. But regardless, I shall try my best. Hoping for feed backs, either constructive criticism or otherwise. But the most important thing is, enjoy!

WARNING: Contains yuri and yaoi so...if you're not into this stuff, why are you still here?

Pairings: Annie x Mikasa (Obviously), Ymir x Christa, Armin x Jean, Eren x Levi, possibly others.

Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan or any of its related stuff. I don't get anything from this, except for enjoyment.

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**The Art of Connection**

Chapter 1

"Behind hate is a greater love"

* * *

Like most good news tends to, it happened on a rainy day. The sun was out yet no warmth could be felt and the streets were empty except for few people. A rainbow hung in the background, its colours faint and melded together; it was a sight that was commonplace in a wet city such as Maria. But not only was Maria well-known for its wet climate, it was mostly known for its poverty. The city as whole lacked money, thanks to the rich and influential people from Capital city Sina stuffing all the taxes they pay into their pockets. Due to this, the average income per family was low and a good education was hard to come by unless you were talented enough to get into a school in city Rose or Sina through scholarship. But cases like that were rare, especially from a small and insignificant town such as Shiganshina.

So one would not be entirely wrong to say that what happened on that rainy day was not merely good news, but rather a miracle.

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Mikasa heaved a sigh as she lowered her bag to the floor and slumped into her chair. She had just come back from her part-time job at the smoothie place and after 4 hours of doing nothing but serving smoothies while being ogled at by the manager, she could honestly say that she was sick of the beverage. The only reason she put up with her job was because of the money but lately, even that wasn't enough a reason for her to stop herself from entertaining some of her darker thoughts which involved a knife and a certain manager.

It wasn't like the Jaeger family was poor. In fact, compared to regular families in Shiganshina, they were what people considered the 'rich snobs' though if they were to go to Sina, they would be rendered to nothing short of 'homeless'. But yes, in a town so small and poor, the Jeager family was well-off, due to Dr Jaeger's well-paying job at the local hospital and his famous reputation that even reached city Rose and Sina. Both Mikasa and her adoptive brothers Eren and Armin had plenty of education so Mikasa actually had no reason to work part-time other than to save up and rely less on Carla and Grisha to pay for her everything. She was grateful enough that they took her in without any conditions so she was determined to not be a burden, at the very least.

Just as she began to close her eyes, the sound of the front door being burst open reached her ears and frantic footsteps soon followed. Mikasa immediately tensed and stood up, preparing for the worst case scenario. Before she could even blink, the door to her room received the same treatment as the front door and she found herself staring at a beaming Eren in its place. She relaxed her muscles and watched in amusement as Eren started ranting incoherently, waving a piece of paper around in the air. She waited for her brother to calm down and he did, after roughly five minutes. Even then, Mikasa could see that Eren's body was practically humming in excitement which made her wonder what exactly got him so pumped up.

"Calmed down?" she asked playfully. Eren smiled at her sheepishly and nodded, finally taking a deep breath. When silence filled the room for a minute, Mikasa couldn't resist the curiosity and gently prompted for Eren to continue. "What's got you so excited?"

Eren grinned so wide, Mikasa wondered how it didn't split his face.

"Well, remember how dad's got a job at the Grand hospital in city Rose? And remember how we're moving there to a new house?"

Mikasa nodded, signalling Eren to get to the point.

"And remember how we took the test to get a scholarship at Trost academy?"

Once again, Mikasa nodded. She definitely remembered. About a month ago, just after hearing that Grisha had gotten a job in city Rose, Eren had looked up different schools to attend along with an overly eager Armin who was the most academically gifted one out of the three siblings. By chance, they had stumbled upon Trost Academy's official website and had briefly looked over the descriptions and requirements. They were scrolling down the requirement section when they found out that Trost Academy specialized in teaching students Art, Design and Music and any student who wished to attend must excel at one of these topics.

At the word 'Specialize' and 'Music', Eren and Mikasa were immediately hooked. Upon further reading, it turned out that Trost Academy also offered scholarship to talented teenagers whom were less fortunate. After that, it only took '… a wonderful geography and mathematics programs' to convince Armin. Together, they had taken the test to apply for the school's scholarship with Carla and Grisha's approval.

"We got in!"

Mikasa blinked. Eren looked at her expectantly, waiting for her reaction. When none came, he repeated his sentence except with less excitement and more worry.

"Mikasa? I said we got in. You know, to Trost Academy?"

"I know," she replied softly. Eren looked at her in concern, his eyebrows drawn together. That is, until he saw the huge smile on his sister's face. He relaxed and smiled along with her. It wasn't every day that you get see someone like Mikasa smile so widely and sincerely so he wanted to treasure this moment. The only shame was the fact that Armin wasn't there to celebrate with them.

Just then, the sound of soft footsteps interrupted their moment and a blonde haired boy poked his head into the room.

"Hey guys. For some reason, the front door was open. Did anything happen?" Armin asked; his mind was racing through all the different scenarios that could have taken place. To his question, Mikasa and Eren's eyes lit up and Eren practically pounced on Armin while Mikasa was more reserved and chose to simply stand closer to him.

"We got in, Armin! We did it!" Eren shouted, literally thrusting the piece of paper he was holding to Armin's face. The latter took the paper and quickly scanned over the text. His eyes widened and turned to stare at Mikasa and Eren, both of whom were sporting wide grins on their faces. He looked back at the letter and again at his siblings. When they nodded as if saying 'It's true', Armin's vision went black and he promptly fainted.

There was an awkward silence in which Eren and Mikasa spent staring at Armin's body that lay on the floor. He was clutching the piece of paper so preciously; it might as well have been the bible.

"That…wasn't the reaction I was expecting…" Eren muttered. Mikasa rolled her eyes in response.

"Shut up and help me carry Armin's body to the bed."

Outside, the rain continued to pour.

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"Ugh. Why is the Saxophone so heavy?" Eren grunted, walking towards the hall where the welcoming speech was about to start. They had moved into a nice, average sized house within the city of Rose few weeks ago. Conveniently, the house happened to be very near to the school so there was no need for them to be dropped off by car. Unfortunately for Eren, however, it meant that he had to lug his instrument to school every morning and drag it back home every afternoon.

"Stop complaining. You were the one who chose to play it," said Mikasa without even sparing a glance at the brown-haired teen. Eren huffed in response, glaring at her back.

"You have it easy. All you have to do is carry two sticks around in your pocket. Even Armin only has a small case and the clarinet isn't heavy."

Armin opened his mouth to retort when a heavy body slammed into his side and sent him stumbling. Mikasa was at his side in a flash, checking over his body and acting like a fussy mother in general. Meanwhile, Eren glowered at the person responsible for sending Armin flying. He was slightly taller than Eren, his hair a similar shade of brown except for the layer beneath which was a darker shade. He was carrying a slightly smaller leather case and his face sported an unpleasant scowl. Eren bristled, feeling hatred for the guy despite only having known him for ten seconds.

"Hey, watch where you're going. You nearly broke my brother's ribs thanks to that stunt you just pulled," Eren said with a glare. The guy turned his scowl to Eren for a second before taking a look at Armin who was still nursing his sore side. His scowl softened and concern entered his eyes for a brief second before it was covered by irritation when he saw Eren glaring at him.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I was the one who was shoved by some bastard. It wasn't as if I slammed into Blondie over there on purpose. Anyway, I don't have time to talk, I'm in a hurry so whatever," the guy said, starting to walk off. Before he even took five steps, he paused and after a moment of hesitation, turned around and looked directly at Armin before saying, "Look, sorry. My name's Jean Kirschtein. I swear didn't slam into you intentionally; I have better things to do." With that, Jean continued to walk away, leaving Armin staring after his retreating back. Despite the guy's apparent toughness, Armin had sensed an aura of sadness coming from Jean and something told him that it wasn't a trivial matter like a squashed cake or a lost book. No, it was something deeper…something more emotional…

"That guy really pisses me off," Eren gritted, snapping Armin out of his thoughts.

"Someone once said that behind hate is a greater love," Mikasa deadpanned.

"Then that person must be out of their mind."

At this, Armin perked up and opened his mouth to counter the statement in his usual matter-of-fact fashion.

"Actually, Eren, from a psychological point of view…"

"Please… Armin. Can we not go into psychology and the mysteries of the world so early in the morning? My brain isn't ready," interrupted Eren with a slight groan.

"Your brain is never ready."

"Shut up, Mikasa. Not everyone can have a photographic memory like you."

"You're just jealous."

"What? No I'm not…"

…and thus started another argument between Eren and Mikasa. Maybe it was because they were close even before Armin got to know the two or maybe it was because he got adopted by the Jaeger family the latest, but he noticed that both of them bickered with each other over the smallest things while neither of them ever sparked an argument with him. He wasn't jealous in the slightest but it was just something he noticed from observation.

Besides, Armin pouted, he really wanted to explain the psychological implications of Mikasa's comment to Eren. Maybe another time.

"Come on, guys. Let's put our instruments away in the lockers first before heading to the hall. We better hurry because the speech is going to start in five minutes and I really don't want to miss it."

Armin sighed when neither of them responded. He had a feeling that his first day at Trost Academy was going to be a hell of a long day.

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Roughly a month had passed and Mikasa had enjoyed her time at the school. They taught her everything she already knew yet the way it was taught made it seem like new material and she fell in love with playing the drums all over again. She had thought, before she applied for Trost, that her interest in the instrument would dwindle over time. She only practiced occasionally to keep the memories of her deceased father alive though she hardly touched the piano; it was just too painful. When she first came across Trost Academy's website, a fire deep within her had lit up and she felt as if she had found that _thing _she was missing all these years. Now, as she felt the rhythm course through her body, she knew that she had made the right choice in coming to Trost.

Her teacher Keith Shadis was a top-notch percussionist and his lessons were valuable although his methods were cruel and unforgiving. Any tiny mistakes would result in infinite amount of repeats until your hands were bleeding and you could play the part perfectly in your sleep.

Before she knew it, she had hit the crash cymbal with vigour and her routine was finished. She took a moment to close her eyes and immersed herself in the vibration, inwardly naming all the notes she could identify within the vibration as it thinned out, silence soon regaining its reign. Checking the clock hung above the door frame in the practice room, she saw that it was well into lunch break and remembered that she was supposed to meet up with her friends in the cafeteria. She quickly stuffed her drum sticks into her bag before hurrying out of the room only to collide into a stranger.

Mikasa took few steps back, quickly regaining balance. However, the person she collided with had no such luck and fell on their butt, cursing loudly.

"Ow. Watch where you're going, dumbass," said an irritated voice. Mikasa took a look at the form sprawled on the floor and saw that it was a girl around her age. The girl stood up whilst brushing herself off, muttering with a scowl on her face. Even in her full height, she was a head shorter than Mikasa but the taller girl knew that underestimating your opponent based on their stature was one of the easiest mistakes one could make during a fight. Not that Mikasa considered the girl her opponent, seeing that they barely just met, albeit not in the best situation.

"Sorry, I was in a hurry and didn't you from inside the room," Mikasa offered as an apology. The girl looked up and Mikasa noted with amusement that the girl seemed to be annoyed at Mikasa's taller form.

Her amusement stopped short when their eyes met; cerulean blue clashing with storm grey. Mikasa stared at the girl's eyes, transfixed with the shade of blue and inwardly in awe at how they seemed to just _belong_, and how the soft golden hair framed her face and half covered her right eye. The girl however, seemed to be unaffected and said in a monotone voice, "Whatever. Just make sure this doesn't happen again." And with a look of utter boredom and disinterest, continued to walk in the direction she was originally heading.

Mikasa knew she should have just let her walk away and forget about it but her body betrayed her rational thought and shouted after the blonde girl.

"What's your name? My name is Mikasa."

The girl stopped short for a second but said nothing and resumed her walking. Just as Mikasa thought she had failed in her attempt to get the girl's name, she heard the girl say one word before getting out of ear shot.

"Annie."

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"What took you so long, Mikasa?" Eren asked as she approached the table that was currently occupied with her friends bickering and talking. She sat down and said thanks to Armin who handed her some food he had bought for her at her request.

"Nothing. I just didn't realize the time," she replied before munching on her sandwich. She greeted some of her friends sitting around her.

"Geez, I swear you're like the only one who spends their lunch break doing more instrument practice," said Connie, pausing in his food eating contest with Sasha to comment. His attention quickly turned to the said girl when she started choking on her food, a result from stuffing way too many bread into her mouth at once.

"You're not overworking yourself, are you? If you feel ill, you can tell me and I can give you some painkillers; I always carry them around." This time, it was Christa who spoke. She was the 'goddess' of the group, first dubbed by Sasha when the petite blonde had offered her some of her own food when the brunette had ran out of money one lunch time. Since then, it had stuck due to how fitting the title really was. Christa was the epitome of sweetness and kindness, a stark contrast to her girlfriend's mean attitude and crude sense of humour. They were polar opposites: Whilst Christa was always caring and never pushing, Ymir utterly lacked any sense of tack. Whilst Christa would readily sacrifice her time to help someone in need, the tall brunette was the type of person who would help others out just for the purpose of creating a debt, so that they would need to pay her back in some kind of form. Most people wondered how their relationship functioned.

"No, I'm fine Christa. Thank you for your concern," Mikasa reassured. Ymir grinned and looped an arm around the small blonde, jokingly asking to marry her, causing the said blonde to cutely blush and stutter. Nobody paid them any heed, already used to their interaction. Mikasa thought back to the blonde she had met earlier outside her practice room.

"_Annie."_

"Annie…" she muttered, testing the name on her tongue. She decided that it had a nice ring to it.

"Who's that?"

Mikasa snapped out of her daze and met her gaze with Armin's. He was looking at her expectantly, curiosity written all over his. Mikasa glanced at Eren to make sure he hadn't heard and thankfully, he was in a heated conversation about saxophone versus guitar with Connie and Sasha. All three of them were leaning more towards their own instruments.

Turning back to look at Armin, she thought over what she could possibly say. In the end, she decided it wasn't worth telling her brother so she simply replied with a cool, "No one."

Armin looked unconvinced but he knew better than to push the issue. He shrugged and joined in on Eren, Connie and Sasha's argument, bringing the clarinet into the discussion in the process.

Mikasa went back to her thoughts, her mind once again drifting to the captivating blue eyes…

She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts about the girl.

She probably won't be seeing her again anytime soon.

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A/N: Did you like it? If you did, click that button down there. You know you want to. It would encourage me to write more, certainly.

-Neuro


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm so so sorry for the late update. The only thing I can say is: Tests. Regardless, wow, thank you for following, reviewing and favorite-ing this story. It makes me really happy to see people enjoy reading my writing.

WARNING: Contains Yuri and Yaoi so...if you're not into this stuff, why are you still here?

Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan. If I did, the gayness would be overwhelming. Lol.

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**The Art of Connection**

Chapter 2

"Side glances, second looks"

* * *

Nearly a week had passed since her encounter with the blonde girl and Mikasa still couldn't get Annie out of her head. She wasn't sure what exactly about the girl pulled her in so much. She hardly knew Annie at all other than her name and not even her last name, at that. But during their short interaction, Mikasa had felt a strange feeling of connection between them; as if an understanding had passed between her and the small girl. Mikasa dismissed it as her imagination.

"How was your day?" asked a familiar soft voice. Mikasa snapped her head up and saw Carla's smiling face. She blinked in confusion. Since when was she at home? Was she really blanking out so much that she didn't even notice walking home? _Get yourself together, _Mikasa berated herself sternly. She could not afford to lose concentration like this.

"It was nice. We had a supply teacher for today's special lesson. He wasn't as good as Shadis but he was much nicer than him," Mikasa replied, walking over to Carla, who was brooding over a jigsaw puzzle in the kitchen. All the edges were connected and only a few of the inside parts were filled. Mikasa saw that the complete picture was supposed to be a swan flapping its wings on a blue-green lake. Carla hummed in response, picking up a piece of jigsaw and trying to fit it in different areas. Mikasa pointed to the bottom left hand corner. "I think that should go here." And sure enough, the piece fit perfectly. Carla looked at her in amusement.

"I'm the one who has the hobby yet why is it that you're so much better at it than me?" Carla asked, mostly to herself. Mikasa shrugged helplessly. "Anyway, how are you doing with school? Are you enjoying the special lessons?"

Mikasa thought about the question for a moment.

"We're doing fine. Armin is at the top of the class as usual and Eren's always ecstatic about his special lessons. You know how he gets when it comes to his passion," she replied, smiling slightly when she thought of Eren's childish joy every time he came back from his special lessons.

'Special lessons' is what Trost academy called all the extra music and art lessons it provided alongside your average literature and maths, etc. Each student had a special lesson every day and everyone was sorted into different teaching groups depending on their area of expertise. The school was split into half when it came to its specialising subjects. One half of the school was dedicated to the art and design students and in that half were various different art studios and supply closets as well as few computer rooms for computer aided design. In the other half were practice rooms with soundproof walls, each with an upright piano and some music stands, along with a CD player in case anyone wanted to listen to a sample performance as a reference to their own practice. When the special lessons didn't take place, all students were allowed to roam around the school and homeroom was filled with a mixture of students from both sides.

Mikasa didn't know much about the art and design side of the story but as far as music special lessons went, each student was placed in a teaching group where all the other students played the same instrument. Once every week, instead of being taught in your usual teaching group, the groups were mixed up randomly so that each group had at least one of each type of instrument and as a group, they were required to perform a piece of music that suited the prompt or theme given.

Mikasa briefly wondered which instrument Annie played, if she played any at all.

"Mikasa!"

Mikasa snapped out of her thought and mumbled a sorry to an exasperated Carla who had been calling her name for the past two minutes.

"I asked, what about you, Mikasa? You always talk about how Eren and Armin are doing but what about you? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes," was her short reply. Carla sighed sadly, wishing that the girl would talk to her and confide in her. She tried once more to get Mikasa to open up.

"Are you playing the paino-"

"No." Mikasa snapped immediately. She quickly regretted her tone, hating herself for blocking out Carla like this despite the woman having been nothing but a kind, caring mother for the past seven years. But her past was something she didn't like to think or talk about.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking at the ground in guilt. Carla's eyes softened, understanding that she had touched a delicate topic. Shifting, she patted the space next to her, beckoning Mikasa to sit with her. The younger girl obeyed, silently slipping into the space. Carla wrapped her arm around the girl and soothingly rubbed her arms and Mikasa let her, breathing in the scent she recognised as home. They sat in that position for a while, neither of them speaking. It was only as the front door opened and Eren and Armin came in that Mikasa decided she needed fresh air and stood up and grabbed her coat. Ignoring the boys' curious looks, she walked to the door and just before she went out, asked if anyone wanted her to buy anything.

"Get me some batteries," said Eren.

"Oh, can you get me a book on psychology? I'll give you the title of the book," said Armin, quickly scribbling down something on a piece of paper before handing it over to Mikasa. Carla requested some milk and with that shopping list, Mikasa walked outside. She breathed in the cold evening air and closed her eyes to feel the wind against her cheeks.

She paced herself to the nearest store, keeping in mind of the time, wanting to get back home before dinner. When she entered the store, a rush of warm air attacked her, shocking her a little. Her cheeks and ears were stinging due to the sudden change in temperature but she paid them no mind. She grabbed a packet of medium sized batteries- the brand Eren liked and made a beeline for the book section. She soon found the 'P' section and scanned each book to look for the author Armin had written down. She was going along the aisle, eyes focused on the shelf displaying the books when she felt herself bumping into someone. She heard thumping noises and a familiar voice cursing. A wave of déjà vu washed over her as she turned her body to look at the person she had made contact with.

"What the fuck? Twice in one week. You have got to be shitting me," muttered the voice belonging to the person that had been haunting Mikasa's thoughts lately. It was Annie. Mikasa bent down to help the blonde girl gather up her books. She noticed that all of the books were art related, meaning the girl probably had art special lessons. As they finished collecting the books and stood up, Annie started, "Who the hell is it this time…" and lifted her face, only to frown when she saw Mikasa for the second time that week. "Oh, it's you again."

"Yeah, sorry…"

"Look, are you like, a creepy stalker? Because if you are, I have a fist and I'm not fucking afraid to use it," Annie threatened, raising her said fist to punctuate the point. Mikasa raised her eyebrow and chuckled at the ridiculous concept of her being a stalker. Annie growled, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I just find the concept of someone stalking you funny. They would probably find it hard to keep track of you in a crowd, what with how short you are."

Annie's face darkened and Mikasa realized that she had just succeeded in pissing the blonde off. Apparently Annie didn't like it when people made fun of her height. Mikasa stored away that new piece of information for the time being.

"Watch it, smartass."

"Or what?" Mikasa challenged, ignoring the way her fingers were tapping against her thigh in excitement.

"Or I'll make sure you won't be able to speak ever again."

"Should I be scared?"

"You should be, if you know what's good for you."

Mikasa smirked but wisely decided not to comment. She opened her mouth to change the topic, a weird part of her brain telling her to keep up the conversation for as long as she could. Before she could even utter a word, Annie beat her to the punch.

"So, do you live around here?"

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you're the one who's stalking me," Mikasa said playfully, smiling in amusement. Annie scoffed.

"As if"

A moment of silence stretched between them. In normal circumstances, Mikasa would have either felt extremely awkward or simply comfortable with the silence but now, as she stood there between the aisles of bookshelves, she felt nervous and she had no idea why. Just as she was debating internally on whether to start a new topic or not, she heard a male voice further down the aisle shouting in their direction.

"Oi, Annie! You done finding those books? Bertl and I want to eat so hurry up with buying those books and get your ass outside"

The voice belonged to a tall blonde guy who had an impressive build. His shoulders were broad and his facial feature warned Mikasa that he had an intense personality, though in a fight, she had a feeling that the blonde guy was the honourable type. Next to him stood an even taller brown haired boy who Mikasa guessed was the 'Bertl' that was mentioned. Unlike the blonde, Bertl had a lean frame and seemed like the quiet type.

"Shut up Reiner. You don't me see complaining every time you take a millennia to piss in the toilet and you don't see me whine about the PDA you and Bert always display. Go and eat. I'll follow you once I'm done" Annie replied, her eyes never betraying any emotions. When she mentioned the PDA, Bertl blushed while Reiner looked indifferent. He gave a 'tch' and dragged his taller friend outside, the latter allowing himself to be dragged without any complaints. Mikasa looked on in amusement and curiosity before halting at her own trail of thought. She usually never cared about other people's business and tended to stay away from getting involved with anyone outside of family. So why did she want to know more about the mysterious blonde?

"Friends of yours?" she asked before she could stop herself. She immediately scolded herself for sticking her nose into where it didn't belong. Annie looked into Mikasa's eyes as if trying to read her expression. To her credit, she managed to keep on her cool mask and remained passive.

"Something like that. I've known them since I was fourteen and they're the only friends I have" Annie answered. Mikasa's sharp and observant eye caught the flash of surprise that passed the blonde's face, as if she herself had not planned to reveal so much and truth be told, Mikasa was also surprised; she had been expecting a yes or a no. Annie glanced at her watch before facing Mikasa with an emotion her eyes that she couldn't quite place.

"Well, I have to go now before Reiner busts his ass off. I'll see you around…"

"Mikasa. Mikasa Ackerman. And you are?"

"I'll see you around Ackerman. And it's Annie Leonhardt"

"I'll see you around Leonhardt"

With that, they clasped their hands and gave it a firm shake, both squeezing harder than necessary. Mikasa watched as Annie walked off with several Art books held in her arm. Once the girl was out of sight, she looked at her right hand, which was now red from the pressure that was applied to it. She once again glanced at the note Armin had given her and resumed her search for Professor Philip Zimbardo. Even as the red faded from her hand, she could still feel the tingling sensation she had felt on her initial contact with the short blonde. Mikasa decided that it wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling.

* * *

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Armin chewed on his chicken absentmindedly. He was sitting between Connie and Mikasa in the cafeteria along with all his other friends but his mind was elsewhere. He was currently thinking about Professor Philip's book '_The Lucifer Effect'_ he had finished reading the previous night. Although he had cringed and felt sympathy towards some of the events that took place for the study, he had found the book rather interesting as a whole. There is a section in the book that talks about how humans cannot be defined as simply 'good' or 'evil' because everyone has the ability to act both ways according to the situation. Armin had pondered over this. If no one was just 'good' or 'evil', does that mean everyone was born as 'neutral'? If so, then why do people judge others by how 'good' or 'evil' they are without even considering the circumstances that could have turned them that way? Armin liked to think Jean was a good example of someone who is judged based on their current 'status'. His eyes drifted over to the said boy who was eating across the room. Jean was surrounded by few people and he was currently talking animatedly about something; most likely his superior trumpet playing skills.

Armin felt that Jean was misjudged. To everyone else, he was just the arrogant guy who always boasted about his trumpet expertise and his bright future. But Armin saw the underlying sadness held in those brown eyes. He recognized the boasting as just an attempt to distance himself away from others, the talks of bright future sounded like hollow reassurances. And Armin wanted to know why.

He had been paired with Jean for an assignment a week ago and had so far found nothing about the boy. He had even consulted Eren and Mikasa about the issue but only received a scoff from Eren who told him that Jean was just a stuck up prat and Armin shouldn't bother befriending him. Armin had felt irritation at Eren, frustrated that his brother would judge someone so quickly without even knowing them properly. He had desperately wanted to defend Jean but held his tongue, not willing to get into a fight with Eren. Mikasa had been slightly more helpful, suggesting that maybe Armin should ease Jean into talking comfortably with him first before he did anything.

In that moment, Jean's eyes met his own and time froze. Armin's head started whirling and went into overdrive, feeling confused but at the same time wanting to hold the gaze. He suddenly felt a jab to his side and he snapped out of his frozen state to rub the abused spot tenderly. He directed a curious gaze to Mikasa who was pointedly looking at him.

"You were staring and your face was red. Are you okay?"

Armin tried to hide his look of surprise. He hadn't even realized his face heating up.

"Umm…yeah, I'm fine. I think I should rest for a while, I feel a bit dizzy" he lied, gathering his belonging and standing up. This earned him an enquiring gaze from his friends which he waved off with a reassuring smile. Mikasa looked at him in concern, always the overprotective sister.

"Can you get there by yourself? Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, it's fine. I think I'm just slightly tired from staying up last night to finish my book. A little rest and I'll be fine."

Mikasa nodded slowly, still looking worried but letting it go. Armin quickly walked out of the cafeteria, unaware of Jean who was trailing behind.

"Hey" said Jean, almost hesitantly. Armin jolted with a squeak and swiveled around to come face to face with Jean. His eyes widened comically.

"Oh, uh Jean. Hi" There was an issue when Armin failed to form words properly. "What can I do for you?"

Jean scratched the back of his neck. Armin found the gesture cute for a fraction of a second. He thought Jean was almost being _shy _but he dismissed it as his mind playing tricks.

"Well, I was wondering if we can meet up some time to practice our piece together. It can be at school or at your house. Not mine though; my parents usually have meetings there."

Armin considered this for a moment. This was a perfect opportunity to get closer to Jean and it had been provided by none other than the boy himself. Armin knew it was a chance he couldn't afford to slip.

"Sure. We can meet at my house if you want. How does tomorrow after school sound?"

"Cool. I'll see you then."

"Have a nice day, Jean," Armin said with a cheerful smile. Jean looked to the side and mumbled back "Urr, you too."

Armin inwardly jumped for joy as he walked away, his mind formulating plans to get to know the boy better during the practice session.

* * *

(0)(0)(0)

* * *

Mikasa's eyes followed Armin out of the cafeteria door, slightly narrowing at the sight of Jean following after him. She looked at Eren and was relieved to find that her brother hadn't noticed.

Just as she was about to go back to her food, her eyes caught the sight of blonde hair and she immediately forgot about food. She located the blonde hair among the crowd and sure enough, it belonged to none other than Annie who was sitting on a small table with Reiner and Bertl. Her expression screamed boredom and Mikasa wondered if either of Annie's friends noticed or if they simply didn't care. Mikasa guessed that Annie was somewhat of a loner, judging from how she only had two friends and friends who didn't even seem to notice how she was nearly dying of boredom, at that. It was something she could sympathize with, seeing that the only reason she even had the friends she had was because of Eren and Armin.

By pure chance, Annie looked in her direction and caught her gaze. She raised her eyebrows at Mikasa and mouthed words that looked something like: _If staring at me across the room without me knowing isn't stalking, I don't know what is._

Mikasa held back a grin. She mouthed back: _Stop flattering yourself. I just happened to be looking in your direction. _

She spotted Annie rolling her eyes and then turning her attention back to her friends. It was only her sharp vision that allowed her to see the slight curve of the mouth Annie sported on her usually apathetic face.

Strangely, Mikasa felt butterflies flapping their wings in her stomach and her hand started tingling again.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay so here's the third chapter. Sorry about the delay. At least you can be reassured that I have not given up on this story. I'd appreciate any comments whether it be a constructive criticism or otherwise. But enough with my rambling and on with the show.

WARNING: Contains Yuri and Yaoi so... if you're not into this stuff, why are you still here?

Disclaimer: I don't own SNK and I never will.

* * *

**The Art of Connection**

Chapter 3

"The third time's the charm"

* * *

"_Mummy, why did you and daddy shout again? You promised we would spend Christmas together"_

_A woman with long blonde hair and sea-green eyes looked down at the young child sitting on her lap. Her eyes watered and her lips quivered but she remained silent, trying to be strong for her daughter. Finally, after getting her breathing under control, she was able to reply._

"_I'm sorry honey. I know I promised but daddy and I are just trying to sort things out. Can you be a good girl and wait a bit more? For mummy?"_

_The girl looked disappointed but nodded. _

"_Okay. But you have to promise you'll spend next Christmas with me. Do you promise?" the little girl asked, holding out a pinkie finger. The woman managed to muster a smile as she linked her own pinkie with the little girl's. _

"_I promise baby, I promise"_

A pair of blue eyes blinked open. Strands of blonde hair fell from her forehead and her cheeks were slightly wet from tears. She cursed, hating how much her dream had affected her. Looking at the clock, she noticed that it was six thirty a.m. She was just about to get ready for school when she realized it was a Saturday and she was free to do whatever she wanted. Deciding that a morning walk in the park wouldn't be a bad idea, she got dressed in her usual grey hoodie and pulled her hair up in a sloppy bun, not really caring how she looked. Before she left the house, she quickly grabbed a sketchbook and some pencil for just in case.

She took small steps towards the direction of the park, not really in hurry and simply enjoying the morning breeze. Her thoughts drifted back to her dream- the pinkie promise, the smile. _"I promise"_, the woman had said. She frowned.

_Liar_

(0)(0)(0)

Mikasa knocked. After a moment of silence, she knocked once again only to receive a muffled "Go away!" from her brother Eren. She was slightly worried about Eren. He was usually an early riser, much like herself and Armin but for some reason, Eren had taken a liking to barely rolling out of bed thirty minutes before the start of school as of late. In the weekends, he would sleep until eleven a.m. if he was left alone. It was probably due to the excess amount of hours he spent practicing his saxophone and this was what worried Mikasa. Although Eren was a passionate guy by nature, she had never seen him practice so much. Which lead to the question: Why? He had been like this ever since the day he had gone down the road to buy some reeds.

Mikasa sighed when silence resumed once more. She looked at the clock and saw that it was seven a.m. already, which is the time she would usually be eating breakfast after coming back from her morning jog around the park.

Seeing that Eren probably wasn't going to wake up any time soon, Mikasa got her MP3 player and stepped out of the house. She started a light jog to the park, her pace steady and breathing rhythmic. She got out her MP3 and turned on a previous recording of her drum routine she needed to perfect for the upcoming assessment. She had never gotten any less than perfect scores in her previous assessments but it wasn't too hard to imagine the intensity of the extra training that will surely come from Shadis if she did fail. All in all, it wasn't a terribly appealing thought.

When the familiar surroundings of vast green fields, cosy benches and friendly dog-walkers came into view, her pace slowly rose until she was running at a decent pace that matched the rhythm of the drumming. She went her usual route: five laps around the outer path and eight laps around the inner. By the time she was finished, a light sheen of sweat covered her body and the battery of her MP3 player had ran out.

Deciding that she had exercised enough for now, she allowed herself to make a short-cut through the field towards the gate when her eyes caught sight of someone sitting on a bench along the path holding a book and a pencil. The person had their hood up and sat with their back facing Mikasa. She felt a tugging sensation in her stomach and before she knew it, she was walking towards the hooded stranger. Mikasa walked quietly so that she didn't break their concentration and once she was close enough, she peeked over their shoulder.

The girl, Mikasa guessed, was sketching the trees in front of her with light and confident strokes, toning the trees delicately and with precision. Mikasa stood there mesmerised. It was a simple sketch yet it managed to capture the lighting and the peaceful atmosphere perfectly. She could almost _see_ the gentle breeze wafting through the leaves, she could almost _hear_ the bird chirping and she could almost_ breathe _the fresh morning air. It was something Mikasa could never hope to achieve through her drumming and it left her breathless. She suddenly felt a strong urge to comment, to tell the stranger how amazing the drawing was. So before she could regret it, she did.

"It's beautiful" she breathed. The girl froze and whipped around and Mikasa found herself staring at a pair of familiar blue eyes once again. The stranger was Annie. Annie was the one who had the amazing talent and she was the one who had left Mikasa in awe. Somewhere in her mind, Mikasa wasn't too surprised. Annie seemed to relax when she saw that it was just Mikasa and then proceeded to roll her eyes.

"If it isn't miss stalker again. Just admit it, Ackerman. You're stalking me. How else could you have 'accidentally' run into me three times in less than a week?"

Mikasa shrugged, not bothering to correct Annie. She simply slid into the empty space next to the blonde and stared ahead. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Annie looking at her searchingly. Mikasa held back her chuckle.

"It really is beautiful though. You have a talent" she said, coming back to her original comment with a completely serious face. Annie looked away with a scoff but Mikasa could see a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks. She only held back the teasing for the sake of holding the conversation.

"Yeah, and so does every other kid that go to Trost Academy. The school's prestigious for a reason" Annie rebutted, waving away the compliment.

"Maybe so but I think you genuinely have a talent"

"What makes you think I care about your opinion?"

"The fact that you're talking to me when you could easily ignore me has to mean something"

"You're a persistent one aren't you?"

"Only for the things I care about"

They fell silent. Mikasa panicked in her head, thinking that she had overstepped her boundaries. She almost sighed in relief when Annie merely raised her eyebrows before going back to her drawing.

They sat in comfortable silence, the only sound being the occasional barking of a dog and the faint rustling of the leaves. After a moment of staring at the grass swaying from side to side, Mikasa directed her gaze at Annie's sketchbook, which proved to be much more interesting than the grass.

"Stop staring. It's making me feel uncomfortable" said Annie, without even looking away from her book. She continued to stroke in soft and hard lines; her was hand was moving in practiced moves, not once hesitating or rubbing out. Mikasa tried to discreetly imitate the motions but Annie apparently saw because she was holding out her pencil and her sketchbook to Mikasa. "Want to try drawing something?"

Mikasa scratched her head, feeling apprehensive. In the end, she reluctantly agreed and took the sketchbook and the pencil and started sketching out the bench that was roughly a few metres away from them. She pressed the lead of the pencil to the page and drew out a straight line. She cringed at how sharp and bold it looked. However, she simply pressed forward until she was done. Inspecting the drawing, she couldn't help but feel disappointed at how it didn't seem to have the same effect as Annie's drawing. She handed the sketchbook back to the blonde girl who took a moment to look at the drawing before bursting out laughing. Mikasa frowned at the reaction.

"It's not _that _terrible" she muttered, glaring mildly at the girl who was busting her ass off from laughing so much.

"God Ackerman, I drew better shit when I was in nursery" Annie managed to breathe out before dissolving into a fit of giggle once more when she caught sight of Mikasa's drawing. Admittedly, the drawing of the bench was not the best and certain couldn't be considered as good but Mikasa had thought of it as satisfactory. Sure, there were lots of stray lines and sure, the legs looked a bit wonky but Mikasa honestly didn't think it was too terrible.

"Not everyone can be an artistic genius" she shot back, now feeling slightly embarrassed. She wanted nothing more than to rip the page into million shreds. Annie snorted.

"It doesn't take an artistic genius to draw an acceptable bench. Your drawing? Even monkeys can probably do a better job"

Mikasa rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance, which in itself was uncharacteristic of her. Mikasa didn't huff. Ever. And she most certain didn't care about what other people thought of her but something about the blonde girl taunting her hit a nerve.

"Well, I may not be the best at drawing," she started, ignoring Annie's grunt of agreement, "but I bet I can blow you away with my drumming skills" she finished with a confident quirk of her lips. The blonde girl smirked in response.

"I'll hold you to that statement. But if you don't manage to 'blow me away with your drumming skills' you have to take me out for lunch and I get to choose what we eat"

"What's in it for me?"

"If you succeed, I'll take _you _out for lunch and you can choose what we eat. Deal?"

Mikasa pondered. In all honesty, both end of the deal sounded pretty good to her because either way, she still gets to have lunch with the other girl and spend time with her. It was a win-win situation, though she would have to pay if she lost. She clasped the hand that was being offered and gave it a firm shake.

"Deal"

Maybe she can take the opportunity to explore the meaning of the butterflies in her stomach.

(0)(0)(0)

Eren grunted, rolling out of his bed in an unceremonious fashion. He landed on the floor with a thump, dragging down the duvet along with him in the process. Never before had he known the hardships that other people felt when waking up. Now, however, he completely understood when his friends complained about wanting to go back beneath the soft comfort of the duvet. But he had slept in enough and it was already past noon. He took only slight displeasure at the fact that he had basically wasted half of his precious day of rest from school.

He untangled himself from the duvet and zombie-walked to his bedroom door. He mindlessly drifted to the kitchen and grabbed his favourite mug from the cupboard and started brewing his usual morning coffee. When finished, he took a small sip and sighed in contentment. His eyes slowly started losing its glaze and he noticed that two other people were in the kitchen with him, one looking at him in amusement and the other in disdain. He nodded to them both in acknowledgement.

"Morning Armin, hey Jean"

He started walking back to his room while still cupping his mug both with both hands. Before he could take another step, realization slapped him in the face and he whipped around so fast, his coffee nearly spilt.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Jean, who rolled his eyes in an infuriating way.

"Calm, Jaeger. I'm here to practice with Armin for our joint assignment" Jean drawled. Eren narrowed his eyes dangerously. If the horse face was taking advantage of his brother, he swore to god…

"It's true, Eren. Stop glaring at Jean like he's the embodiment of the Black Death. He's our guest so you should act like a host and be nice to him" Armin said, as if reading Eren's mind. Jean smiled smugly and Eren wanted nothing but to smack it off his face. But for his brother's sake, he tried to lessen his glare.

"Fine. But if I find that you're hurting Armin in any way, I will…" Eren trailed off, hesitating for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "No, Mikasa will personally hunt you down and send you to hospital before you can say 'it's not what it looks like'"

Jean paled slightly, having witnessed the girl's strength first hand when she had bodily thrown a taller guy into the dumpster when they found him taunting Armin and getting a bit too close. He shuddered when the scene played back in his mind, remembering the absolutely livid look the girl had on her face.

Seeing Jean's look of horror, Eren smirked, marking it as his victory. Satisfied that he had scarred the guy enough for the day, Eren went back to his room, whistling a tuneless song. His thoughts soon went back to the guy he had met at the music shop down the road. Levi, as he was called had greeted Eren with the politeness of a donkey and this had him interested. He wanted to know what kind of person treated a customer in such a way and he had found a short guy who looked to be in his early twenties. Levi had looked at him with a gaze of utter disinterest and he seemed to have an aura that practically screamed 'I don't give a shit'.

But what really drew Eren in was how comfortable and 'in zone' Levi looked when playing the saxophone as per Eren's request. He had asked for a demonstration of the mouth-piece and had gotten a performance he would never forget. The guy who only seconds ago looked like he hated life shifted into a concentrated, passionate musician who focused solely on the music he created and in that moment, Eren knew he had fallen in love.

Inspired, Eren started practicing the saxophone with a new-found fever and it had been the cause of his late-morning wake-ups. He once again felt the sudden urge to visit the shop and see Levi. He glanced at his saxophone. Now that he thought about it, he was running out of reeds. With that thought in mind, he hurriedly got changed and rushed out of the house in a daze.

(0)(0)(0)

Christa curiously inspected the new guests at their table from the corner of her eyes. Last week had been Jean who quickly fitted in with the rest of her friends except for Eren. This time, it was a small blonde girl with a blank expression along with her two male friends. She remembered with amusement at how Mikasa had basically dragged the girl over to their table with the two guys trailing behind and had introduced them to their friends whom all, bless them, accepted the new arrivals with open arms. Of course, Ymir had not wasted the chance to say something cryptic but that was just typical behaviour of her girlfriend.

The two boys- Reiner and Bertholdt had instantly gotten into a comfortable conversation with Eren and Armin but the blonde girl named Annie had remained silent, ignoring everyone and simply carrying on eating. But Christa was more perceptive than most and she could see how close Annie sat next to Mikasa and how relaxed she looked.

"Watching the new lovebirds?" whispered the familiar voice of her girlfriend. Christa jolted in surprise, her head whipping to meet Ymir's gaze.

"What do you mean?" she asked. She had an idea as to what the brunette was talking about but she didn't want to make any assumptions. Ymir rolled her eyes.

"You don't need to play dumb. It's pretty obvious how Mikasa and blondie are sneaking glances at each other. It's almost funny how both of them think they're being discreet"

Christa had to agree with that. She had indeed noticed the way Mikasa and Annie glanced at each other from time to time but unlike Ymir, she thought the interaction was quite cute. She smiled as an idea formed in her head. Ymir looked at Christa with weary eyes.

"I know that look. You're thinking of playing matchmaker aren't you?"

"Do you think it's a bad idea?"

Ymir sighed, and patted Christa's head. Christa huffed at the gesture.

"Well Christa, remember how it turned out the last time you tried to get two people together?" Ymir asked, referring to the incident involving Christa's cousin Petra and her friend Levi. In the end, it turned out that Christa was completely off about the 'chemistry' she had apparently seen between the two seeing that Petra was already dating someone. Not to mention that Levi turned out to be completely and rainbow-vomitingly gay. Christa blushed, easily guessing which incident Ymir was talking about.

"That's was just one time! And you have to admit, the chemistry was there"

"Yeah, but not the right type of chemistry"

Christa pouted and Ymir resisted the urge to pull her girlfriend's cheeks and coo at the adorable sight.

"It could have worked" Christa insisted.

"If that Levi guy wasn't totally only interested male butts" Ymir added. Christa glared at her uncooperative girlfriend.

"You're not helping with my self-confidence"

"Babe, your gadar sucks. Just admit it" Ymir said, smirking as she dodged a head-butt. Christa finally sagged in her seat as she admitted that she did have a terrible gadar.

"But you have to agree that I'm right this time" she pressed.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right, for the first time"

"You're such a meanie" Christa pouted. Ymir grinned as she leaned in, her face only centimetres away from the blonde's.

"But I'm your meanie" she said as she started shortening the distance between them.

"So about Mikasa and Annie…"

Ymir groaned and pulled away, glaring at Christa.

"Did you have to ruin the moment?"

Christa smiled apologetically. "Sorry"

Ymir threw her hands up and sighed dramatically. "Fine, I'll help you in whatever you're planning. If that's what it takes for you to stay with me"

Christa smacked the brunette's arm. "Don't be so dramatic"

Ignoring her girlfriend's dramatic tendencies, Christa went back to observing Mikasa and Annie. She noticed that they were having a quiet conversation between themselves. Christa also noticed that Mikasa seemed to be enjoying herself more than usual and Annie seemed more talkative with the taller girl. She smiled when she saw how comfortable they both looked in each other's presence, although both seemed oblivious to the fact. She just knew that her intuition was not mistaken this time around.

Let operation 'Get Mikasa and Annie together' commence.


End file.
